Air cleaner



May zo, y1941. J c, ENBLQM, 2,242,460 AIR CLEANER Filed March 22, 1939 2Sheets-Sheet 1 A @mivfmu mmzrwmvg Fmmsmmmgg ,ff Mlmwiwgimw l l l l .May20, 1941. J. C, ENBLOM l 2,242,460

AIR lCLEANER A Filed March 22, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lwell I is an oilcup I4 Patented May 20,

UNITED STATES .PATENT 2,242,460 OFFICE AIR CLEANER John C. Enblom,

direct and mesne assi per cent to Ruth C. D

to Robert H. per cent to A. fourth per centI fourth per cent totwenty-live .per cent to Ruth trustee, and live, per centto DonaldsonSt. Paul. Minn., assignor, by gnments, of twenty-ve onaldson, twenty percent Donaldson, twelve and one-halt Donaldson Olin, six and oneto MaeD.Buckeye, six and one.-

Ralph A. Buckeye," and' C. Donaldson as- Margaret M;

Application March 22, 1939, Serial No. 263,487 Y.

(el. 18a-15) 6 Claims.

vtimate comming-ling of airand oil in-the air cleaning action; and-theseobjects I accomplish by the improved-arrangement illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view chieiiy in vertical sectionbu with some parts in fulland some parts broken away illustrating my invention as applied to anair cleaner of the type illustrated in the 'said Lowther Patent No.2,130,142; and

Fig. 2 is a view chieiiy in vertical section but with some parts in fullillustrating my invention as applied to an air cleaner of the typedisclosed in the said Lowther Patent No. 2,006,927.

My invention may, however. be applied to and incorporated with aircleaners other-than the types above referred toas the Lowther air clean-Referring rst to thel structure illustrated in Fig. 1, numeral 5indicates anuprlght, cylindrical or drum-like casing. preferably ofsheet metal, the top of which is .closed by a head 6 having a clean airoutlet pipe 1. At its lower portion the casing5 is surrounded by -askirt orsupplemental shell 8 spaced .therefrom but .rigidly attachedthereto at its upper edge. The skirt 8, as shown, is provided with .aplurality of air intake ports 9. Telescoped on to the skirt 8 is a largecup-like oil well I0 which-is -detachably held in place by suitable'means vsuch asnut-equipped bolts VII that depend from lugs I2 on theexterior of said skirt and work through the ends of a clamping barv I3extended under the bottom of-the oil well. v

Formed onor otherwise placed within the oil e that isof considerablyless diameter thanthe casing 5. The vertical annular ange of the cup I4,for anfimportant reason presently to be noted, is outwardly and upwardlyflared or projected at lI5 to form one side of an annular deilectirigbaille, the other side of which ,deectng baille is formed' by an annulariiange I 6 that is secured to or formed as a part of the lower edge ofthe casing 5.

Preferably, and as shown, the ange I 5 is formed by an upturned portionof a downward extension of the casing l5. The spaced edges of the angesvI5 and vIl forma continuous 'orsubstantially continuous annularcombined air and oil passage II that is at the level or substantially atthe normal static level of the oil Y contained in the well I0. and cupI4. 'I'he annular passage II is constrlcted in respect to the air`intake passage 8' and is concentric thereto. The interior ofthe casing5forms an expansion chamber Il above the passage II and, of course, thisexpansion chamber has very much greater cross-sectional area and, hence,'conducting capacity, than either the air intake passage 8' or the saidpassage I'I. Preferably and as shown, wire screens or elements I9 areplaced in the said expansion chamber.

In the operation of thecleaner just described,

the clean air outlet pipe 'I will usually be vconnected to thecarburetor intake of an internal combustion engine so that air, underaction of suction, will be drawn in through the perforations 9 of theskirt 8 and down into the oil from; the lower end of the annular airpassage 8' and from thence will bedrawnupward into the expansion-chamber I8 through'the contracted or constricted passage I'I.` Becauseof the smaller "conducting capacity of the passage I1, the air with theoil taken up therewith, will move through the said passage I'I underrelative very high velocity. `As

the oil laden air passes through the constricted passage I1 into theexpansion chamber Ita rapid expansion and rapid decrease in velocity iwill take place which will permit the oil particles l in the air to becondensed on the stacked screens,

if the latter are provided, from which screens the collected oilywilltend to iiow under the action of gravity back in oil well. However, evenif the screens should not be provided the rapid expansion and reductionof velocity will cause a particles. e v ,Since the`air stream expandsrapidly as lit enters the expansion cham-ber I8, the most'active zone inthe expansion chamber I8will-be directly above the ystream diverg'esinwardly and outwardly" from opposite sides of the passage I-'I so thattherewili be a relatively 'quiet-zone' directly 'over the oilA cup Il,and another relatively quiet zone directly over the iiange densed uponthe1 screenv elements orotherwise the direction oi'` the 'precipitationof the oil constricted passage Il', and the velocity will fall oVprogressively as the air.

I6. Under loperation oi 'the air Y' in the expansion chamber, theoilparticles conv primary oil container. These heads of oil lil and l u"will, of course, tend to return to that portion of the oil wellreferredto as thel primary oil y container through the constricted passage Il,but

under high capacity operating conditions this return will be largelyeliminated and the oil tending to overflow the edges of the passage l1will be whipped up by the expanding air stream and commingle therewith.only to be precipitated therefrom in the mann.r already described withinthe intermediate portion of the expansion 2o chamber and returned backto the vicinity of the passage I1.

As previously indicated. when the air cleaner is acting at high capacitythe oil will be largely displaced from the primary oil container, butthe loss of this -oil from the primary oil container will be oifset bythe resultant oil heads yan'd u", which latter constantly tend to flowback into the primary oil container, but do, as a matter of fact, simplyfeed the expanding air stream 3b with a continuous supply of oil. Inthis connection it will be understood that there wlll` be a very greatturbulence of air at opposite edges of the air stream as it expandslover theedges of the passage I'I, and this turbulent air will 35 whip upsuch oil as'tends to flow into the e l1 and cause the same to bethoroughly lcom mingled with the air, which will result in the eilicientcoating of dust particles with oil and the resultant retaining of thesame in the oil body. Of course, when the engine is stopped, the oilwill settle back to a static condition .as indicated in the drawings.

It is important here to note the important action that takes place asthe oil-ladened air moves upward through the passage Il. The,oil-ladened air delivered to the passage I1 from the outturned ilangeIl will be upwardly projected with a force tending to form the same intoanupwardly divergng or expanding cone: while the oilladenedv airdelivered to. the passage I1 by the ange I6 will be projected upwardlywith a force tending to form an upwardly converging conical formation.However, these suggested cones will not be formed' as indicated but thetwo streams 55 or sprays will be thrown into violent coniliction, athigh velocity, which will set up a turbulence resulting in spreading.breaking up and forming of eddies so that the whole violently agitatedoil spraywill be thoroughly commingled. co

In counter-distinction to the above described action, due to the mannerin which the oil-ladened air is delivered to the constricted passage, itmay be stated that if the same volume of oil and air were to bedelivered through a cylindrical g5 passage of any considerable length.the oil and air would be projected in the form of a divergin'g sprayhaving less divergence and turbulence than is produced by thearrangement described and which, as demonstrated in practice, would nothave the high degree of eiiicency of the arrangement above described.

The annular iianges I5 and I6 converge toward i the restricted passagel1- and form a baille between the expansion chamber and the primary oilcontainer, which latter, inthe present instance, is the oil well il. Theflange il has the above noted tendency to project the spray on linesmarked a: while the flange It has the tendency to project the spray onlines marked b.

Referring now to the construction illustrated in Fig. 2, the numeral,indicates an upright cylindrical or drum-like casing. preferably ofsheet metal, the top of which is closed by a head 2l through which anair intake tube 22 is extended axially downward through the casing 2l.'Ihe casing is provided at its upper portion with a clean air outlettube 23. Telescoped on to the lower end of the casing is a largecup-like oil well 24 which is detachably held in place by suitablemeans, which means such as nut-equipped bolts 25 depend from lugs 26 onthe'exterior of the casing 2li andwork through the ends of a sustainingbar 21 extended under the bottom of the oil'well. Within the oil well2l, by means of a ilange or otherwise, ,there is formed an oil cup 28that is of much less diameter than the oil well 2l. The air intake tube22 extends downward into the oil cup 22 and to a point consider- 22 andis .spaced from the edge of the inturned flange 29 to form an annularcontracted combined oil and air passage Il. This e 2| is preferablycontinuous and in any event should be substantially continuous.

The numeral 32 indicates intercepting screens. preferably of wire, thatfill the space of the expansion chamber 23 formed between the air intaketube 22 and the casing.

I'he operation of the form of the air cleaner shown in Fig. 2 is verysimilar to that described in connection with the form shown in Fig. 1.In the structure of Fig. 1 the air is drawn inward and downward throughthe annular air intake channel, thence through the oil and thence upwardthrough the casing: while in the structure Vupward through the annularexpansion chamber formed within the casing. In the structure of Fig. 2the contracted or restricted air and oil passage 3l has much lessconducting capacity than either the air intake tube or the expansionchamber of the casing, so that the oil and air will be drawn throughthis contracted passage at relatively very high velocity and thevelocity of the oil and air will be decreased in the expansion chamberso that there will be proper precipitation of the oil while the cleanair will move upward through the clean air discharge tube or passage.Also, in the structure of Fig. 2 the inturned flange 29 of the oil cupwill tend to deilect the oil: spray upward in a contracting conicalformation while the flange 3l will tend to project the oil spray upwardin an outwardly flaring conical formation. Also, the tendency to formthese conilicting conical projections of the oil spray results inbreaking up the true conical formations. and set up eddies and whirlingactions much the same as that described in the structure of Fig. l.Also, the contracted passage 2l is located at or substantially at thenormal oil level.

When the air cleaner of Fig. 2 is in action at container', with theresult that inner and outerl heads of oil, indicated by dotted lines y2and :u3 respectively, will be maintained and which will constantly tendto iiow back into the oil cup through the constricted passage 3|. Ofcourse in this instance as in the case of the cleaner f Fig. 1, theseheads of oil, due to the high velocity of air' moving through thepassage 3| under operatingconditions, will not actually-now downwardlythrough the constricted passage 3| under high capacity operatingconditions but will simply flow into the expanding air stream. Here`also, as in the case of the cleaner of Fig. 1, the oil owing back tothe edges of the rapidly expanding air stream will be whipped up andcommingled with theexpanding air only to be separated therefrom withinthe expansion-chamber so that a constant circulation of `oil Within theexpansion chamber will be maintained.

In the structure illustrated in Fig. 2 the anges 29 and 30 convergetoward the restricted passage 3| and form a baille between the expansionchamber and the primary' oil container, 'which latter, in the presentinstance, is the socalled oil cup 28. The iiange 30 has the tendency toproject the spray on lines marked a; while the ange 29 has the tendencyto project the spray on lines marked b'. In the specification and theclaims the primary oil container is the part through which thedustladened air is primarily delivered and hence,'in Fig. 1 the outerannular portion of the part Aspecifically called the oil well i0 is theprimary oil container; while in the structure shown in Fig. 2, the partspecii'lcally called the `oil cup 28 is the primary cil container.

What I claim is:

1. In an air cleaner, a casing having an air f inlet and an outlet andannular wall providing an expansion chamber between said inlet andoutlet, a second annular wall surrounding the lower portion of saidcasing wall and providing saidl air inlet passage and said outletleading directly outwardly from the upper portion of said casing, an oilwell detachably connected to said second annular wall with said casingwall extendinginto said well below the static oil level, an oil cupmounted within said oil well inwardly of said lcasing wall and belowsaid expansion chamber, and an annular baille extending'from said casingvwall to said cup between said oil well and said expansion chamber, andsaid baille having opposed upwardly converging flanges spaced t0 form aconstricted air and oil discharge passage from said oil well to saidexpansion chamber.

2. The structure dened in claim 1 in which the top of said baffle andsaid constricted annular passage is approximately at the normal staticoil level of said `cil well and oil cup.

3. In an air cleaner, a casing having an air inlet and an air outlet andan annular wall be*- `tween said inlet and outlet providing an expansionchamber, said inlet being of tubular form extended axially downwardthrough said casing and said outlet leading from the upper portion ofsaid casing, an oil well detachably connected to the lower end of saidcasin'g, an oil cup within said well located below and receiving thelower end of said tubular air intake, and an annular baille extendingoutwardly from said tube to said oil cup below said expansion chamberand provided at its top with opposed upwardly converg- 4ingsubstantially annular anges spaced to form a constricted substantiallyannular passage leading from said oil cup to said expansion chamber,said air intake, expansion chamber, oil well and oil cup being in'concentric arrangement.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the top of said baiie andsaid constricted annular passage is approximately at the normal staticoil level of 'said oil well and oil cup.

5. In an'airv cleaner, a casing having an air inlet, an outlet and anexpansion chamber between said inlet and outlet, an oil well in the baseof said casing having an upwardly opening oil-cup mounted therein andproviding primary and secondary oil containers for said cleaner, saidexpansion chamber having an annular wall radially spaced from the wallof said cup and extending into one of said oil containers below thestatic oil level thereof and under which inlet air is adapted to pass tosaid expansion chamber, an annular baille extending from said chamberwall to the upper edge of said cup below said expansion chamber, andsaid baille having spaced upwardly converging anges providing therebe-Aally concentric walls providing primary and secl ondary oil containersin the base thereof and an expansion chamber above said containers, anoutlet communicating with the upper end of said expansion chamber, oneof said walls extending from said expansion chamber into` one of saidlVcontainers below the static oil level thereof and providing an airinlet to said casing, an annular baille extending from said one wall toan adjacent concentric wall between said container and said expansionchamber, and said baile having opposed upwardly converging inner andouter annular anges spaced to form a constricted oil and air inletpassageway communicating with said expansion chamber at approximatelythe static oil level in said. containers, whereby said inner flange-willproduce an outward projection of oil and air and the outer ange aninward.

projection of oil and air from said passageway into said expansionchamber toward the outlet thereof.

JOHN C. ENBLOM.

